I was reading an article today on Tech Republic about this new decade being the decade of the developer. While I agree with that 99%, I have a slight problem with part of this discussion. The author, Jason Hiner, Editor-in-Chief of Tech Republic, makes a point of applications being more modular and streamline, doing only one or two tasks very well. And he's not the only one I've read that is on this kick. There are a lot of tech writers that think apps will eclipse software suites.
I have one serious issue with this, though. Where I do feel that focus is important in an application, and Microsoft certainly abused the added-features element of software, I think that the days of simple one-off apps that serve a single function are temporary. As time goes on and smart phones and tablets become more mainstays, the applications on those platforms that will survive the holocaust of apps that is to come, will be the applications that keep you from having to leave to do something else related. Its why we have software suites to begin with.
As I see it, this is just a repeat of the early days of computing, where the world was big and new and everyone wanted their piece of it. Once the dust has cleared, and the winners settle on the top of the pile, I think we'll see a return to dependence on key sets of applications, and that they will be all-in-one wonders, because honestly, those are the systems that sell best to consumers consistently. (I mean, really, when was the last time someone bought a printer that just printed?)
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
The iOS app store has a large number of single-purpose apps as well as a fair amount of suites, as you call them. I find that I largely prefer the single-purpose apps, because they tend to be much better at what they do. In fact, I have (or still have access to) probably close to 100 of those types of apps on my phone and it hardly takes any space. No inconvenience whatsoever. I am fairly certain that this will never change... developers don't have to pay to have their apps remain listed. So that means their apps will stay on there until they decide otherwise. Which means this 'holocaust' will undoubtedly never happen.
ReplyDeleteEven the big names have begun to break up their suites to give better access for individual needs. Which was why we had to deal with big software suites in the first place... nobody really had the resources to create something competitive with the backing of a big name like MS or Adobe. Which allowed the big names to take advantage of us by throwing in unneeded fluff and charge us for it. Now there are any number of apps created by individuals or small start-ups that can do similar jobs, easier and faster... and ultimately, cheaper.
Absolutely no way things will 'return' as you think. Technology never steps backwards... always adapting and moving forward.